Apparitions and Accountability
by sue-sylvester-shuffle
Summary: Mulder and Scully fight for the innocence of a sixteen-year-old girl with OCD who claims that a ghost was responsible for the murder of her therapist. (OCD MULDER. SLIGHT SCULDER.)
1. Fault

_Toronto, Ontario, Canada_

 _August 24th, 1996_

* * *

"All right, Zoe," said Dr. Penner, shuffling his papers and putting them down on his lap. "That's all our time for today, but make sure you keep our homework in mind. Start with the small stuff if you aren't feeling up to trying anything big."

Zoe, who was sitting across from him, nodded. "I will. Thank you, Dr. Penner."

Just as she was about to stand up, however, a burst of cold air glided into the room. Zoe hunched her shoulders, wrapping her arms around herself. "What was that?" she asked, in a small voice. And then she repeated it four more times, to make it a good number. "That? That? That? That?"

Despite her discomfort, Zoe couldn't help but feel a pang of irritation. She'd been getting her repeating compulsion under control, up until then. With a sigh, she glanced over at her therapist to see if he had noticed the setback. He was frowning, pulling his sweater tighter around his body. "I don't know," was his response. "Maybe the heater went out? That was odd, though."

"Maybe," Zoe murmured.

Dr. Penner got up and took a few steps toward the heater in the corner. However, the faint whistling of wind throughout the room was getting louder. It was beginning to sound dangerously like breathy moaning. Zoe gasped, and began to tap nervously at the table with one hand. _Five. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty._ Seeing her fear, Dr. Penner stood up. "Hello?" he called out. "Is… Is someone there?"

All of a sudden, the lights flickered, and then went out altogether. When they came back on, a man was standing in the middle of the office. Alarm hit Zoe like a punch in the stomach, and she whimpered in fright. Dr. Penner's jaw dropped. His mouth moved slightly, as if he was about to say something, but no sound came out.

"It's your fault," rasped the man. As Zoe watched him, she realized that she could just see the corner of Dr. Penner's desk through the man's leg. Or, at least, that was what it looked like. _Could it be?_ Zoe rubbed her eyes, hard. When she opened them again, the man was closer to her therapist, though Dr. Penner had taken a few steps back. He still didn't say anything, but Zoe could see that he was scared. There was something else lurking in his expression, though she couldn't quite recognize it.

The man raised a hand. After a few seconds, he curled it into a tight fist. Dr. Penner made a choked sound, and a burst of red exploded across his chest, a stark contrast against his light sweater. Terror struck Zoe; she screamed, and in her desperation to get away from the translucent man in the centre of the room, ended up knocking her chair over. The wind was knocked out of her as the back of the chair hit the ground. Her glasses fell off of her face, too; Zoe hesitated for a moment, not wanting to make any sudden movements. The man didn't seem to notice her at all, though, or maybe he just didn't care. He jerked his fist, and Dr. Penner fell to his knees, more blood spreading across his chest. Some spurted out, spraying Zoe's shirt.

"Zoe," Dr. Penner coughed. "Run!"

Terror was rendering Zoe's mind a blank wasteland, but she snatched up her glasses, scrambled to her feet, and lunged for the door. Normally, she would have to tap the doorframe seven times before opening it, but in that moment, she was too preoccupied with getting as far away from the ghostly man as possible. "Help!" she yelled, almost tripping in her haste to get out of the room.

She didn't look back, just ran. But when she returned to the office with the police, trembling in her _unsanitary,_ bloodstained clothes, she found Dr. Penner lying face-down on the floor. There was blood pooling around his body, smeared across the carpet and one of the chairs. "My God," whispered one of the officers, surveying the scene. Zoe felt her shoulders shaking before the tears started to drip down her face.

Another officer stepped into the room. She rolled Dr. Penner over and checked his pulse. "He's dead, Chief," she announced, looking out at Zoe and the other police.

The police chief, an authoritative-looking man with dark hair, sighed. "All right," he said, and turned to Zoe with his arms crossed. "What happened here?"

"I t-told you… there was a man…" Zoe managed. "He just appeared… and he was t-translucent, like a g-ghost…"

"A ghost, huh?" asked the chief. "And where is this _ghost_ now?" When he said the word 'ghost', he made air quotations with his index and middle fingers. Zoe winced.

"I don't kn-know," she told him.

The officer who had checked Dr. Penner's body came back over to Zoe and the police. "No other evidence, sir," she reported.

The police chief frowned. "All right," he said gravely. "Take her in."

Before Zoe knew what was happening, handcuffs snapped around her wrists. "Wait… w-what?" she stammered. "I… I don't… I told you, it was… a man, a g-g-ghost… I don't know who he… _wait!_ " The officer closest to her had just shoved her roughly toward the door.

"A ghost. Sure it was," the police chief growled.

Zoe swallowed hard. "L-Let me call my mum, sir. Sir. Sir. Sir. Sir."

"I'm right here, kid. You don't have to repeat yourself," he told her. "We'll call your parents when we get down to the station."

As they ushered Zoe toward the door, she turned around to take one last look at Dr. Penner's office. At the armchair where she had sat every three weeks; at the comforting, pastel purple walls she had studied when eye contact was too overwhelming; and at Dr. Penner, a friendly face to whom she had confided so much. Now, he was bleeding out on the ground- and the police thought that _she_ had done it.

Zoe glanced away. This blood-spattered version of the room was not the way she wanted to remember it. She stared pointedly at the ground as the police ushered her out of the building.

* * *

"I hope you have a warm jacket," remarked Fox Mulder as he entered his office one morning. His partner, Dana Scully, raised an eyebrow at him from across the room.

"It's warm outside, Mulder, what are you talking about?" she asked warily. With Mulder, you could never be sure.

He grinned and handed her a case file. "We're going to Canada," he told her.

"Canada?" repeated Scully, opening the folder and studied the first thing inside; the file belonging to someone named Rajesh Penner.

"This is Dr. Penner," said Mulder, pointing at a photograph clipped to the file. "He's a psychiatrist from the province of Ontario. Or, at least he _was,_ up until yesterday. He was killed in his office during a therapy session with a sixteen-year-old girl named Zoe Renaud."

Scully flipped through the contents of the case file. Sure enough, there was a photo of the girl there as well. She had curly, dark hair, glasses, and a face full of freckles. "She was a patient of his?" Scully asked.

Mulder nodded, sitting down across from her and kicking his feet up onto his desk. "Uh-huh. According to her file, Zoe Renaud suffers from severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She was Penner's patient for almost two years."

"And has she been questioned about his death?"

"Yes," Mulder replied. "She claims that Penner was attacked by a ghost. Obviously, that isn't going down so well at the police station."

Scully raised her eyebrows. "A _ghost?_ "

Her partner nodded again. "Apparently Zoe is eager to help the police with whatever information she has, but right now she's their main suspect."

"I can see why," Scully said. "She was the only other person present at the time of death. But you believe her? You believe that Rajesh Penner was killed by a ghost?"

Mulder shrugged. "I don't know what I believe yet. But I'd at least like to hear her side of the story. It doesn't seem like anyone else does."

"Fair enough," sighed Scully, closing the file. "All right. When do we leave?"

Her partner reached into his pocket and pulled out two plane tickets. "One-fifty," he responded, grinning.

"A.M. or P.M.?"

"P.M."

"Well, that's still more warning than you usually give me," she remarked.

Mulder laughed softly. "You got me there," he said.

* * *

The agents arrived in Toronto, Ontario just after three o'clock. It was warm outside; Mulder shrugged off his coat, looking irritated. "You do know that it's summer in Canada too," Scully said.

"I know that," her partner grumbled. Scully couldn't help but laugh.

Mulder's coat lay abandoned in the back seat when the agents pulled up to the morgue. They went inside, and after showing their badges to the coroner at the front, were granted access to the body of Rajesh Penner. Mulder peered over Scully's shoulder as she began to unzip the body bag. "See anything ghostly?" he asked.

Scully smirked up at him. "I haven't even opened the bag up yet," she said.

Mulder chuckled, and waited as Scully revealed Dr. Penner's body. There were two wounds on his chest, one close to his heart, the other a bit lower. "Puncture wounds?" supplied Mulder. "But I thought no weapons were recovered from the scene of the crime."

Scully nodded. "That's right." She opened the coroner's notes. "According to the autopsy, by the way the skin was opened and the whereabouts of the internal hemorrhaging, it's highly unlikely that any sort of knife went in. And none of the witnesses heard shots fired."

"So what are you thinking?" Mulder asked.

The redheaded agent sighed. "I'm not sure. It… it just doesn't seem possible, Mulder."

"Well, in that case, why don't we go pay a visit to the girl?" suggested Mulder.

"Zoe Renaud?"

"That's the one. Maybe she can give us some insight into what caused Penner's injuries."

Scully nodded. "All right. Let's go."

* * *

A/N: I've actually finished this fic in its entirety! However, the updating schedule may be a little erratic just because, well, I'm still a busy student. But stay tuned! More ghostly phenomena to come!


	2. Paranoia

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I've been busy with schoolwork. Anyway, this chapter contains one very brief spoiler for season two.)

* * *

"So you must be the FBI agents," the police chief greeted Mulder and Scully when they arrived at the station. "I'm Chief Harley. Nice to meet you."

"That's right. I'm Agent Mulder, and this is Agent Scully," Mulder introduced himself and his partner.

"It's a real hot mess of a case, eh?" remarked Chief Harley. "But I guess to become a psychiatrist, you have to know the risks."

"So I take it you don't believe Zoe Renaud's story, then?" asked Scully.

Chief Harley laughed. "That a ghost killed Rajesh Penner? What do you take me for, Agent Scully? One of his patients?"

Irritation prickled under Scully's skin. She pursed her lips. "I was only asking what you thought," she replied curtly. "For the record, I don't believe that ghosts were involved, either."

"We'd like to talk to Zoe now," interjected Mulder. "Where can we find her?"

"She's in the interrogation room, which is just that way," said Chief Harley, pointing down a hallway behind the front desk. "Second door on the right. It's pretty hard to miss."

"Thank you," Mulder responded. He headed in the direction that the chief had gestured to. Scully followed her partner, still fuming at the way Harley had talked to her. Evidently Mulder had noticed too, because he leaned in toward Scully and commented, "That man was the least Canadian person I've ever met."

"Not all Canadians are nice, Mulder," said Scully, although she was glad he had thought the same thing.

Zoe Renaud was sitting all alone in the interrogation room when they entered. She looked very small, made much younger by her fear. When Scully opened the door, Zoe looked up with a start, eyes wide behind her glasses.

"It's all right," said Mulder. "We're just here to ask you a few questions."

"Are you with the FBI?" asked Zoe. "I thought I heard one of the police officers say you were coming."

"That's right," Scully responded, sitting down and extending her hand toward Zoe. "My name is Agent Scully, and this is my partner, Agent Mulder."

Zoe studied Scully's hand, lips pursed. "I'm Zoe Renaud. But I'm sorry, I… I can't shake hands unless I know they're clean." There was shame in her voice. Scully felt a pang of sympathy for her.

"That's perfectly fine," she replied, retracting her hand.

Mulder sat down beside Scully and leaned forward, looking at Zoe. "We're here to ask you about what happened to your therapist, Dr. Penner," he told her.

Zoe sighed, looking down. "You won't believe me if I tell you what I saw," she mumbled.

"You may be surprised," Mulder said.

The girl glanced back up at him. "All right," she began. "Well, um… I was with Dr. Penner, when the room started to get… really cold."

"Cold?" repeated Scully, who was scratching down notes as Zoe spoke. "Like the heater malfunctioned?"

"No, more like…" Zoe paused to collect her thoughts. She had begun to tap the edge of the table with her fingernails. "…more like a cold wind had come in. But all the windows were closed; I check them compulsively, so I'm sure of it. Then I started to hear this… this moaning sound. And then the lights went out, and this… _thing_ appeared. Well, he was a man, or at least he looked like one. But I could kind of… sort of… _see through_ him."

Scully frowned, and wrote, ' _She thinks the killer was translucent_ ' in her notes. From beside her, Mulder took the notepad and scribbled ' _GHOST_ ' underneath, underlined twice.

"The man said to Dr. Penner, 'It's your fault'," continued Zoe. "I don't know what he meant by that, though. Then he made a fist, and… _hurt_ Dr. Penner."

"Did he hit him?" Mulder asked. "Where?"

Zoe shook her head. "He didn't touch him at all. Dr. Penner just started bleeding. A lot. He told me to run, and I did. Did. Did. Did. Did." She pursed her lips, obviously embarrassed at performing the compulsion in front of the agents.

Scully glanced up at Mulder. He gave her a fiery-eyed look. "And you think that what you saw was a ghost?" he asked Zoe.

"I think so. I mean, he was translucent!" exclaimed Zoe. "No one believes me, though. I-I mean, I wouldn't believe me either. But all these police officers seem to think _I_ did it." Her lower lip trembled. "I even took the lie detector test, and still, no one believes that I'm innocent. But I would never hurt anyone."

Mulder blinked earnestly. "I believe you," he told her.

Zoe's eyes widened. "You… you do? Really?"

"Yes," said Mulder. "And we're going to try and help you, Zoe. We just need all the information you can give us."

"I've already told you all I know," Zoe told him. "I wish I could help more, though. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Scully responded. "You've helped our investigation a lot. Now, Mulder and I are going to go check some things out, but we'll come back later today. All right, Zoe?"

The teenage girl nodded. "Thank you, Agent Scully." She smiled at the two agents as they left the interrogation room. When they were outside, they found Chief Harley waiting by the door.

"I think you're beating a dead horse here, Agents," he said.

"What do you mean?" asked Scully. "Do you really think Zoe is responsible for what happened to Dr. Penner?"

The police chief nodded. "Of course I do. Her psychological file said she experienced violent intrusive thoughts as a result of her disorder. And she was the only other person in the room. I think I've heard enough."

Scully opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Mulder snapped, "Intrusive thoughts are a core part of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Many people experience them, but very few actually act on them."

Harley cocked his head, frowning. "So you're the one with the psychology degree, huh? Well, don't get all high and mighty on me, Agent Mulder. I just say it as it is."

Hot anger swelled inside of Scully. "With all due respect, _Chief,_ " she hissed, in a tone that held none of the respect she promised, "Agent Mulder is right. Besides, Zoe said that she took a polygraph test and it proved that she is telling the truth."

"You know what the C in OCD stands for, don't you, Agent Scully?" questioned Harley. "It stands for _compulsive,_ as in compulsive liars. I don't think you can take anything she says at face value."

"That isn't true!" Mulder exclaimed. "I refuse to believe that Zoe is responsible for this. And I refuse to listen to someone so misinformed." He glared at the police chief for a few moments longer before looking down at his partner. "Come on, Scully. We're wasting our time here anyway."

He turned away from Harley, knocking him with his shoulder as he went. Scully hurried after him. When they got out of the chief's earshot, she grabbed her partner's shoulder. "Mulder, wait."

The dark-haired agent stopped and turned around. Scully retracted her hand. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm _fine,_ Scully," said Mulder. "Just angry."

"Is that really all? Because you seem pretty… _invested_ in this case."

Mulder sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "The first time I ever heard of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder was when I was studying psychology at Oxford," he told her. "And I… I related to it. I always thought I was just paranoid because of what happened to Samantha… but maybe that's just how it all started. All of the checking locks, checking windows, constant obsessions about the government, never wanting to throw anything out for fear of needing it for some later case, always thinking that something's going to happen to me… or _you_ … sometimes it feels like I don't have control over my own mind."

Scully had never thought about it that way. She had never questioned Mulder's eccentricity, but the possibility that it might be more than just a few paranoid personality quirks had never occurred to her. Now that Mulder had said it, it made sense. "Were you ever tested?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, never."

"And you've been thinking about this since you were in Oxford?" Scully said. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Mulder sighed. "I was scared. _Am_ scared," he corrected himself. "I didn't know what a diagnosis like that would do to my career. And… to be honest, Scully, I was afraid of what it would do to _us._ I didn't want you to think differently of me."

Scully couldn't help but feel a bit hurt. "Mulder, I hope you know that something like that would never change the way I think about you," she told him. "And I think once we solve this case, you should talk to the Bureau's resident psychiatrist. I went to see her a couple of times after my abduction. She's very good. I think you could really benefit from that."

He nodded. "I'll keep it in mind."

"I hope you will." Scully said, and gave his arm what she hoped was a reassuring squeeze. "But now, come on. We have work to do."

The two agents headed toward the front doors of the police station. However, before they could leave, a woman's voice called out, "Wait!"

They stopped and turned around. Standing behind them was a middle-aged woman. Although she had darker skin, she had the same curly hair and freckles as Zoe. _Her mother,_ thought Scully.

"Can we help you?" asked the redheaded agent.

"I think so," said the woman. She had a slight Québécois accent. "Are you the FBI agents? The chief said you would be coming by."

Scully felt Mulder bristle beside her at the mention of the police chief. She put a hand on his arm, and responded, "Yes. I'm Agent Scully, and this is my partner, Agent Mulder."

"My name is Claire Renaud," the woman introduced herself. "I'm Zoe's mother. I… I was just wondering… you don't think Zoe killed Dr. Penner, do you? I mean… you _can't._ She's only a child."

"No, ma'am, we don't think she did it," Mulder replied. "Right, Scully?"

"That's right," added Scully, unable to keep a note of irritation out of her voice at being put on the spot. She didn't believe that Zoe was responsible, but she still didn't appreciate it.

The crease between Claire's eyebrows faded away. "Really?" she breathed.

"Really," Mulder told her. "We're going to do whatever we can to prove Zoe's innocence."

Claire smiled, tears welling up in her eyes. "Thank you so much. No one else seems to be taking her seriously. I mean… her story is questionable at best… but she's been through a lot. It's to be expected that she's not making much sense."

 _At least_ she _doesn't think that a ghost is responsible,_ thought Scully, relieved. "I agree with you, Mrs. Renaud," she said.

"Is there a way I can reach you if anything comes up?" asked Claire.

Scully nodded. "I'll give you my cell phone number," she told her, pulling out her notepad and writing down her number. "My partner would give you his as well, but I'm not entirely sure that his beat-up mess of wires even qualifies as a phone at this point."

Claire laughed, taking the piece of paper when Scully offered it to her. "All right. Thank you. I'll be sure to get in touch if anything happens."

She headed off toward the front desk, probably to go see her daughter in the interrogation room. Scully waited until she was out of earshot before hissing, "Mulder, you shouldn't have given her false hope like that."

"False hope?" repeated Mulder, pushing open the door and holding it for his partner. "You don't think we can prove that Zoe is innocent?"

"I'd like to, of course, but I don't know it's even possible," Scully responded as they walked out toward the car. "Zoe was the only other person in that room, and her ghost story isn't holding up. Unless we can place someone else in that office at the same time as her, I can't promise that we will be able to shift the blame."

"You said it, Scully. We just need to find out who else was in that office with Zoe and Dr. Penner," Mulder said. "Let's start with this; who do you think would even _want_ him dead?"

"Well, according to Zoe, the man said, 'It's your fault'," replied Scully. "Why don't we look at a list of Penner's former patients? Ones that may have reason to blame- or _kill_ \- him?"

Mulder nodded. "And ones that may have died," he added.

Scully raised an eyebrow. "Mulder," she began. "I don't believe that Zoe killed her therapist, but I don't believe that a ghost did, either."

"Fair enough," said Mulder. "Either way, let's get down to Dr. Penner's office." He opened up the car door and climbed into the driver's seat. With a sigh, Scully followed him.


	3. Compulsions

Half an hour later, Scully and Mulder were sitting in the patient records room of Dr. Penner's therapy office, surrounded by a sea of Penner's patients throughout the years. Scully had put aside a neat pile of the women and children, looking specifically for an adult male as per Zoe's story. However, none of them really struck her as someone who would have a vengeance against Dr. Penner. From his notes, it seemed as if Penner had been able to help each patient significantly.

"Look at this, Scully," said Mulder suddenly, handing her a file. "This man, Jonas Beatty, was Dr. Penner's patient from '89 to '95. He suffered from extreme psychotic behaviour and antisocial personality traits. According to Penner's notes on him, Beatty was very violent and Penner wrote that he didn't feel as if he was helping him at all, that his condition was too severe."

"That could be our guy," Scully mused, taking the file. There was a photo clipped to the page of a gaunt, blonde man. There was something very _alive_ about him, something that could not be contained within the photograph. Scully had to look away. She began to scan the information, but stopped when she noticed something near the top of the page; a date of death. "Mulder, it says here that Jonas Beatty _died_ in 1995. Apparently he fatally stabbed his mother in a psychotic episode and was gunned down by police after refusing to stand down."

Mulder nodded. "But you said it yourself. This could be the guy we're looking for."

"He's dead," Scully reiterated.

"Zoe _did_ say she saw a ghost."

"Zoe went through a tremendous ordeal," Scully retorted. "She was Penner's patient for almost two years, and she watched him die. We know that she wasn't the most mentally healthy person to begin with- Zoe may _think_ she saw a ghost, but the translucency of Penner's attacker may have been something her mind conjured up to protect her from what she _actually_ saw."

Mulder nodded. "That could be the case. But what if it's not? What if Rajesh Penner really was killed by the ghost of Jonas Beatty?"

"Mulder, you are being unreasonable!" exclaimed Scully. "What are you basing this theory on, anyway? The fact that a traumatized teenager thinks she saw a ghost, and a file belonging to an even more disturbed, very much _dead_ individual? I suggest we look at some more of these files, and once we've narrowed down our list, we show them to Zoe. All right?"

Mulder nodded. "All right." However, Scully noticed that he set Jonas Beatty's photo aside, making sure that it would not get lost in the sea of files around them. Scully eyed it suspiciously for a moment before going back to her own stack of files.

It took a couple of hours, but finally, the agents had gone through every single file belonging to an adult male in Dr. Penner's office. They decided together on the twenty patients that were most likely to have killed him, and returned to the police station at around seven-thirty P.M., avoiding Chief Harley as they went. Zoe was still sitting by herself in the interrogation room, looking around nervously. However, when she saw Scully and Mulder through the window, her face lit up.

"You're back," she said when they entered, sounding relieved.

"That's right," Scully told her. "We've come to show you some photographs. If you recognize any of them as the man who killed Dr. Penner, we need you to tell us. All right?"

"Of course," said Zoe, nodding.

"Thank you." Scully reached into her bag and pulled out the first file. However, before she could present it to Zoe, Mulder took a single photograph out of his coat pocket and slid it across the table.

"What about this one?" he asked.

"Mulder, please," groaned Scully. It was a photograph of Jonas Beatty, Penner's ex-patient who had been killed by the police.

However, Zoe gasped, her eyes widening. "That's him!" she exclaimed, both hands coming up to tap on the edge of the table.

Scully's jaw dropped. "Are you sure?" she said, looking from Zoe's shocked face to Mulder's exhilarated one.

"Yes, that's definitely him," Zoe responded. "Who is he?"

"His name is Jonas Beatty," Mulder explained. "He used to be one of Penner's patients, like you."

Zoe nodded slowly, taking in the information. "So how did he die?" she asked.

"How did you know that Beatty is dead?" said Scully.

"I told you, I saw a ghost," replied Zoe. "How did he die?"

Scully sighed, leaning back in her chair. Mulder glanced over at her for a moment before saying solemnly, "He was gunned down by police after murdering his own mother."

The girl swallowed hard. "Do you… do you think he might come after me? Me. Me. Me. Me." She winced.

"I don't know that yet," Mulder admitted. "But we'll make sure you're safe."

"Thank you," said Zoe. "And, um… thank you for believing me, as well. Both of you. I know the evidence against me is pretty incriminating… and the fact that I'm in therapy probably doesn't help my case much. But you two are willing to give me a chance. I really appreciate that."

Scully smiled. "We're here for you, Zoe," she responded.

Just then, someone rapped loudly on the window behind her. She turned to see Chief Harley standing there. When he saw that the three of them were all looking, he opened the door and poked his head in. "It's getting late, Agents," he called. Mulder twitched in irritation.

"Well, I guess that's our cue to leave," remarked Scully, trying to suppress her own anger. "Make sure you get a good night's sleep tonight, all right, Zoe? We'll come back and see you in the morning."

Chief Harley was waiting outside when they left the interrogation room. "Good evening," he said. "Any new evidence?" His voice was dripping with smugness. It was clear that he had as much respect for Mulder and Scully as they had for him.

Scully opened her mouth to tell him that they were still working on it, but Mulder interjected heatedly, "Actually, we have a suspect."

Harley looked taken aback for a moment. "Are you serious?" he asked. "Who?"

"We're not at liberty to say," Scully told him, but Mulder was already taking the photograph of Jonas Beatty out of his pocket.

"This man," he said. Scully groaned inwardly.

Harley peered at the photograph and chuckled. "That's your suspect?" he asked.

"Well, you see-" Scully tried.

"That's Jonas Beatty," Harley interrupted. "He's dead. I was one of the police officers at the house after he went crazy and killed his mother. I watched him die." He crossed his arms, shaking his head. "You really _do_ believe the girl, don't you? You think a ghost killed Rajesh Penner. Well, I have to say… I thought the FBI was better than that."

Anger flashed through Scully's mind. "I know full well how this sounds," she snapped. "But Zoe made a positive ID on this man. Even if he is dead, he must have some connection to the case."

Harley glanced through the window at Zoe. "Whatever you say," he told them.

"My partner and I work exclusively on cases that cannot be explained by conventional means," Mulder added, sliding the photo back into his pocket. "The mere fact that we're here means that this case isn't quite as easy as you seem to think it is."

"Well, you can believe whatever you want to," said Harley. "But all I'll say is that Jonas Beatty was all over the news after his death. I don't think it's possible that Zoe _didn't_ see his face, especially considering she was Dr. Penner's patient at that time too. Let's just say, for now, that she _did_ kill him. She tells you that a ghost did it, and you show her that photograph. Well, you could have shown her any old suspect. But no, you show her a photo of the one who was famous for that psychotic episode. Everyone knew he hated Penner, too. Of _course_ Zoe is going to say it was him. Smart, isn't it, to shift the blame off of herself and onto someone who would have the motive. _If_ , of course, Jonas Beatty was still alive. Which I can assure you, he is _not._ "

Scully chewed on the inside of her lip. She hated to admit it, but the logical part of her couldn't help but agree with what he was saying. Still, she refused to believe that Zoe had killed Dr. Penner.

"You make Zoe out to be quite the schemer," Mulder remarked. "I think you forget that she's only sixteen years old."

"And you think that means she couldn't have done it?" retorted Harley. "Listen, I don't have time for this. You can hunt ghosts all you want, but do it elsewhere, all right? I have work to do." With that, he turned around and walked down the hallway. Mulder made to follow him, but Scully put a warning hand on his arm.

"Mulder, don't," she told him in a low voice.

"But Scully, he-"

"It's getting late," continued Scully. "Let's head back to the motel and get some rest, okay? We can get a fresh start tomorrow morning."

After a few seconds longer of glaring down the hallway at the chief, Mulder sighed. "Fine," he conceded. "Let's go."

The agents drove in silence, their mutual anger at Chief Harley like a thick cloud around them. As they pulled up in front of the motel, however, Mulder asked, "Do you think they'll put maple candies on the pillows instead of chocolates?"

Scully raised an eyebrow at him. "You do know that Canada is a country and not a theme park," she said.

He grinned. "I still think it would be a nice touch."

"Well, Mulder, I hope for your sake that they have maple candies, then," replied Scully. "But I don't know how seedy the place is. I'm just hoping they have _pillowcases_ on the pillows."

He laughed. "You make a fair point, Scully."

She smiled over at him. After the ordeal with the police chief, and what Mulder had confessed to her about thinking he might have OCD, it was nice to catch a glimpse of the humorous side of him that she had always been quite fond of.

They got out of the car and headed into the motel. The man at the desk gave them their room keys, and the two agents retired to their own rooms. Scully kicked off her high heels by the door and collapsed onto her bed. A sigh escaped her; she and Mulder had been running around nonstop since they came to Canada, and she was exhausted.

However, Scully had only been relaxing for about fifteen minutes when there was a knock on her door. "Delivery," came a familiar voice.

"Mulder?" she called back.

"Yeah, Scully, it's me."

Scully got up and opened the door to reveal Mulder standing there, holding a box of pizza. "Ta-da," he said, grinning.

The redheaded agent felt her stomach growl. She hadn't realized how hungry she was, but now that she thought about it, she hadn't eaten since the plane ride.

"Oh, Mulder," she exclaimed, taking the pizza box from him. "I'm _starving_."

He chuckled. "I thought you might be. There's a pizza place just next door, so I picked this up for us."

"Thank you," said Scully, putting the box down on the table.

"It has mushrooms," Mulder told her, stepping inside and shutting the door behind him. "I know you like those."

"You know me too well," she remarked, opening up the box. The pizza, which had pepperoni and mushrooms, smelled amazing. Beaming, she turned around to see her partner examining the lock on her door. He was jerking it around, unlocking it and pulling it shut again. Looking at the crease between his eyebrows, Scully couldn't help but think back to what he had said before about compulsively checking locks and windows. Sympathy tugged at her. "It's okay, Mulder," she added, going over and placing a hand overtop of his. "It's locked, I promise. Come over and have some pizza."

He nodded, swallowing hard, and followed her over to the table. Scully pulled out a piece of pizza and handed it to him as he sat down.

"Thanks, Scully," sighed Mulder. "You have no idea how long I would've been there if you hadn't stopped me."

"I can imagine," she said, taking a slice out of the box. "Mulder, I really think you should talk to someone about this. I'm no psychologist, but you're showing textbook symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder."

Mulder took a bite of his pizza, looking down at the table. "I know," he replied after a few long moments. "And that's what scares me."

"You don't have to be scared," Scully told him. "Many people suffer from OCD. You're a psychologist. You should know know that."

"Of course I know that," said Mulder. "But you know what they say about doctors being the worst patients."

"Uh-huh."

"Well, you're never sick, Scully. But I might be. And it's… a hard pill to swallow." He laughed humorlessly. "No pun intended."

Scully sighed, putting her pizza down on top of the box. "Mulder, you know that I'm here for you, no matter what happens. Seeing a therapist won't change that. But it might help you."

He nodded. "I know. Okay. Once this case is over… I'll go see someone about this. I promise."

A smile spread across Scully's face. "Good," she responded.

Just then, Mulder exclaimed, "Oh, I almost forgot!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a fistful of individually wrapped maple candies. Scully couldn't help but laugh when she saw them.

"Where did you get those?" she asked.

"We're in Canada, Scully. They grow on the trees here." He was grinning. Scully reached out and took a candy from his hand.

"Thank you." She put it into her pocket, and picked up her slice of pizza again. Mulder tossed the handful of candies onto the table.

After finishing off a few pieces each, Mulder took some of the maple candies and went back to his room. Scully watched the door for a few moments before going over and locking it. Once.

"Please don't spend too much time on your own lock, Mulder," she whispered, to no one in particular. As she climbed into bed, she hoped he was already lying in his. But the chances of that were low. _You have no idea how long I would've been there if you hadn't stopped me,_ he had said.

As Scully drifted off to sleep, she thought that she could hear the rattle of his lock as he toiled away at the compulsion in his room across the hall. It was a ridiculous notion. But still, it hurt.


	4. Vengeance

Scully was woken up the next morning by the sound of her phone ringing. Groggily, she fumbled a hand over her bedside table until she found the source of the noise. "Hello?" she mumbled.

"Agent Scully?" asked a distraught-sounding woman's voice. "This is Claire Renaud. I'm sorry for calling you so early in the morning."

"That's quite all right," replied Scully, pushing herself into a sitting position and rubbing her eyes. "What can I help you with?"

"W-Well, it's about Zoe," said Claire. "I just got a call from the chief saying that, because no new evidence has come up to prove Zoe's innocence, he's going to go ahead with the prosecution."

Scully froze. " _What?_ " she gasped.

"He told me that you two were doing more harm than good in this case," continued Claire. "Apparently, he doesn't want you involved anymore." She paused, sniffling. "They're taking her to court tomorrow afternoon, Agent Scully. Second-degree murder. I… I don't know what to do."

"All right. Stay calm, Mrs. Renaud," Scully told her. "Agent Mulder and I aren't going to give up on your daughter's case. In fact, I'm going to go wake him right now so that we can discuss our next move."

"Th-Thank you," Claire said. "I'll let you get to it. If anything else comes up, Agent Scully, I'll call you again."

"All right," Scully responded. Just then, Harley's words from before popped into her head all of a sudden. _Jonas Beatty was all over the news after his death. I don't think it's possible that Zoe didn't see his face,_ he had told her. "Wait," she added before Claire could hang up. "Can… can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Does the name Jonas Beatty mean anything to you?" asked Scully tentatively.

Claire took a deep breath before responding. "It means a lot of things, Agent Scully. He went to the same therapist as Zoe. I saw him a few times in the waiting room. That was before… the incident, of course. Do you know about that?"

"Yes, I do," said Scully. "And, er, Mrs. Renaud… does Zoe know about him? About what happened?"

"I sure as hell hope not," Claire remarked. "I tried my hardest not to let Zoe see any of it on TV. I didn't want to scare her. She absolutely adored Dr. Penner, and I didn't want her opinion of him to change because of what Jonas Beatty thought."

Scully paused, thinking back to the photo of Jonas Beatty that had been clipped to his file. "What did he think of Dr. Penner?" she asked.

"Well, after his death, they interviewed his sister," Claire told her. "She said that Jonas used to tell her all the time that Penner was a phony and that he was doing nothing for him but emptying his bank account. That's not true, of course. Dr. Penner worked wonders with Zoe."

 _So Jonas Beatty really_ did _have a grudge against Dr. Penner,_ thought Scully incredulously. "Thank you," she said. "You've been a big help."

"If you don't mind me asking, Agent Scully," replied Claire. "What does Jonas Beatty have to do with all this?"

Scully opened her mouth, and closed it again. The fact that she was even entertaining the possibility that a ghost had returned from the dead was preposterous, and nothing that she would present to Zoe's frazzled mother. Still, Zoe had identified Jonas Beatty as the killer, and Scully thought that Claire deserved to know that. "Zoe made a positive ID on him," she told her. "She believes that Jonas Beatty was the one who killed Dr. Penner."

Claire was silent for a few seconds. Scully sighed, running a hand through her hair as she waited. Finally, Claire spoke. "Do you… do you think Zoe could be telling the truth?"

"Well, Mrs. Renaud, I certainly don't think Zoe is lying," said Scully. "I believe that she's traumatized and confused, and telling us what she _thinks_ is the truth. However, the fact that she identified Jonas Beatty is… troubling."

"I agree," Claire responded. "Well, Agent Scully, I'm heading back to the police station now. But I'll be in contact."

"All right." Scully hung up the phone. Her mind was buzzing with all the new information she had received. With a long sigh, she got out of bed and began to take off her pyjamas. Once she was dressed, she left her room and knocked on her partner's door. "Mulder, it's me," she called in.

"Coming," came his reply. A few moments later, Scully heard the latch on his lock rattle, and he opened the door, hair mussed from sleep.

"I just got a call from Zoe's mother," Scully told him.

"Good morning to you too, Scully."

"Mulder, please. This is important."

"All right," responded Mulder. "What did she have to say?"

"Well…" Scully paused, pursing her lips. "They… they've decided to sentence Zoe with second-degree murder."

Her partner's smile faded away so fast that it was like he had taken off a mask. "What?!" he hissed, stepping aside to let her enter. "Come in." Once Scully was inside, Mulder shut the door and carefully locked it again.

Scully sat down on a chair near his bed and crossed her arms. "Apparently, Chief Harley thinks even less of us than we thought," she told him. "He wants us off the case. They're bringing Zoe to court tomorrow afternoon."

Mulder was silent for a few moments. Finally, he said, "We'd better work quickly, then. Let's find someone who knew Jonas Beatty… a relative, maybe… and ask them if Jonas had a vengeance against anyone else."

Scully sighed. "I suppose he is the only lead we have. And Zoe's mother said Jonas had a sister who he had confided in about his experience with Dr. Penner. Okay, Mulder. It's worth a try."

Mulder gestured to Jonas's file, which was sitting on his bedside table. "Anything on the sister there?" he asked.

Scully went over and picked up the file. Sure enough, his sister, Eleanor Beatty, was listed, alongside his father, Robert Beatty. "She lives here in Toronto," Scully informed her partner.

"All right." Mulder went over to his suitcase, which was leaning up against the end of his bed. "I'm going to get dressed now. Feel free to watch TV while you're waiting."

Scully raised an eyebrow. "Am I going to like what I see when I turn on the TV, Mulder?" she asked pointedly.

He grinned, taking a patterned tie out of his suitcase. "Depends how invested you are in Spanish soap operas," he replied. Scully couldn't help but smile back.

* * *

It had begun to drizzle a bit by the time Mulder and Scully reached Eleanor Beatty's house. Mulder held up an umbrella for them as they climbed the steps, and Scully knocked on the door. It was opened by a young woman with blonde hair. "Hello, how may I help you?" she asked.

"Are you Eleanor Beatty?" Mulder said.

She nodded. "Yes. Um, if you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

Mulder took out his FBI badge and held it up. "My name is Fox Mulder. This is Dana Scully," he introduced them. "We'd like to ask you a few questions about your brother, Jonas."

Eleanor's eyes widened at Jonas's name, and then she sighed. "All right. Come in." She stepped back to let Mulder and Scully enter.

When the two agents went inside, Eleanor brought them to a living room and gestured for them to sit down. "So what did you want to know?" she asked. "I have to say, I didn't expect to have anyone come asking after Jonas again, especially not now."

"We're sorry to bother you," Scully said. "But we need to know if there is anyone out there who your brother may have had a vengeance against."

"A vengeance?" Eleanor echoed, confused.

"A grudge," offered Mulder. "Someone he might harbour negative feelings for."

Eleanor blinked slowly. "I know what a vengeance is," she replied. "But Jonas is dead."

Embarrassed, Scully looked to Mulder. Her partner cleared his throat and said, "We know that, Ms. Beatty. But we have reason to believe that he could have been involved in the recent murder of his therapist, Dr. Rajesh Penner."

"But how?" Eleanor asked, sounding lost. "How could Jonas be involved? He's _dead._ "

"I know how it sounds," Mulder responded. "But there is a witness who made a positive ID on him at the scene of the crime."

" _How?_ " Eleanor repeated again. "He couldn't possibly still be alive, could he? I went to his funeral."

Before Mulder could say anything about ghosts or the undead, Scully interjected, "We aren't entirely sure, Ms. Beatty. But either way, we need to know if your brother had a grudge against anyone else."

"Well, if what you're saying is true…" began Eleanor. "Jonas might be going after our father. He… he and Jonas never got along."

"Do you think he could still hold a grudge against him?" Scully prompted her.

Eleanor nodded. "Absolutely. Our father used to beat Jonas and call him a freak. And apparently… what happened to Mom… that psychotic episode was brought on by Dad. Just being _near_ him made Jonas worse. He never would have touched Mom at all, had Dad not been there to set him off. Jonas loved Mom dearly. The two of them were really close. But our father was a whole different story."

From what Eleanor was saying, there was no doubt in Scully's mind that if Jonas was going to attempt to kill again, his father would be the next target. She glanced up at Mulder, who asked, "Where can we find your father?"

Eleanor picked up a notepad from a nearby table and wrote out an address. "Here. I don't know how willing he'll be to talk about Jonas, though. Oh, and, um… good luck with your investigation. Get back to me, okay? If Jonas is alive…" She pursed her lips. "Well, just get back to me."

"Thank you," said Scully, taking the piece of paper. "We'll be in touch."

"One last thing, Ms. Beatty," Mulder piped up. "When you said you didn't expect anyone to be asking about your brother, you said, 'especially not now'. What did you mean by that?"

"Oh, well," began Eleanor. "Today is the one year anniversary of the night both Jonas and Mom died."

A stab of alarm shot through Scully. Whether or not she believed that Jonas Beatty was alive, or a ghost, if he had been responsible for Dr. Penner's death, there was a good chance that Robert Beatty was in danger. "Come on, Mulder," she hissed. "We'd better get moving."


	5. Relief

As they got into the car outside Eleanor Beatty's house, Scully began tentatively, "Mulder, how do you get rid of ghosts?"

He grinned at her from the driver's seat. "So you believe it now? That Dr. Penner was killed by a ghost?"

"I don't know _what_ I believe," replied Scully. "But just in case Jonas really _is_ dead, and his spirit has somehow returned for vengeance… we need to know how to protect ourselves."

Mulder nodded slowly, as if he was soaking in every word. "All right," he said. "Well, you can't exactly _kill_ a ghost. That stands to reason. But I think they can be talked down. Ghosts only hang around the world of the living when they have a good reason to."

Scully sighed, tilting her head to look out the window. Her logic-oriented mind led her to believe that Jonas Beatty was still alive, that he had faked his death for some reason. However, both Chief Harley and Eleanor Beatty seemed positive that he really was dead. Either Zoe was lying, or Jonas had come back as a ghost. Scully was reluctant to believe either possibility.

When the agents reached Robert Beatty's house, Mulder knocked on the door. It was opened by an elderly man with sparse, white hair and deep frown lines. "Whatever you're selling, I'm not interested," he grumbled. He didn't need to say or do much to give off a very intimidating aura. It was easy to believe, Scully decided, that this man had abused Jonas Beatty for years.

"Actually, sir, we're with the FBI," Scully told him, presenting her badge.

Mr. Beatty crossed his arms, and looked Scully up and down, very slowly and _very_ obviously. Feeling indignant and violated, Scully folded her arms in front of her chest. From beside her, Mulder said, "Sir, may we come inside?" He was gritting his teeth. Scully couldn't help but feel a tiny burst of happiness that he was uncomfortable, too.

"All right," responded Mr. Beatty, shuffling aside to let the agents enter. Once they were inside, he asked, "So what's this about?"

Unsure of what to say, Scully looked up at Mulder. He began, "Mr. Beatty, when was the last time you saw your son?"

The elderly man's eyes hardened. "My son?" he repeated.

"Jonas," Mulder supplied.

"I know his name," snapped Mr. Beatty. "The last time I saw him was when I watched him murder my wife in cold blood. Then the police shot him. That was the last time I saw my son."

"You didn't go to the funeral?" asked Scully.

"Would you?" Mr. Beatty said. "The boy was a disgrace. Good riddance, in my opinion."

All of a sudden, a cold breeze ran through the hallway. Scully pulled her coat tighter around her, ducking her head down. Beside her, Mulder mumbled, "Brrr," under his breath. He was looking at her; Scully could tell that he was thinking about what Zoe Renaud had said, about how the room had gotten cold all of a sudden right before Dr. Penner had been murdered. Trepidation crawled across her skin.

"Not again," grumbled Mr. Beatty.

"This has happened before?" Mulder asked.

"A few times in the last week," the elderly man replied.

Scully looked up at Mulder. The alarm written across his face mirrored what she was feeling. "Let's get out of here," hissed Mulder. "Come on, sir."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Mr. Beatty asked.

Mulder opened his mouth and then closed it again; probably, he had thought better of trying to explain to an elderly man that his dead son had come back as a ghost and was out to kill him. However, he didn't need to explain anything. Out of the corner of her eye, Scully saw a figure appear, flickering in and out of existence like a faulty TV picture. "Mulder!" she gasped, whirling around. However, when she looked again, the figure was gone.

"What is it?" asked Mulder, turning as well.

"I thought I saw…" Scully began faintly.

She didn't need to finish her sentence; Mulder knew. His jaw clenched, and he glanced around warily. "Get Mr. Beatty out of here," he told Scully.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

"I'm going to try and talk to him," her partner responded.

Concern stabbed through the redheaded agent. "Mulder, he could be beyond reason," she said. "He might not think twice before hurting you."

He held her gaze unwaveringly. "I've got to try, Scully," he told her.

Scully took a deep breath, and nodded. "Please be careful," she whispered. Then, she turned to Mr. Beatty. "Come on, sir. Let's go."

"What's going on?" grumbled the elderly man.

Scully took him gently by the arm and headed toward the front door. However, before they could leave the house, she heard Mulder let out a little gasp behind her. When she turned around, she saw something that made her blood run cold. Standing at the other end of the room, inexplicably translucent but unmistakably real, was Jonas Beatty.

"Oh my God," she breathed. Beside her, Mr. Beatty tensed under her hands; Scully tried to look at him, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from Mulder, who was watching Jonas warily.

"Leave, _now,_ " hissed Jonas. His voice sounded like it was coming from everywhere; the walls, the floor, inside Scully's head.

"We aren't going anywhere, Jonas," Mulder began. "Listen to me. I know why you're here. But you don't have to do this. I know he hurt you… but you can be the bigger person. You don't have to hurt him, too."

"You don't understand," spat Jonas's ghost. "You don't know _anything!_ "

"I know that. But I'm telling you…" Mulder trailed off as Jonas outstretched a hand.

Alarm flashed through Scully's mind. "Mulder, get back!" she exclaimed.

Mulder glanced over at her for a moment before turning back to Jonas. "Killing him won't help anyone, least of all you," he continued quietly.

In one rigid motion, Jonas shoved his hand forward. Mulder went flying backward as if something formidable had slammed into him. He hit the wall and fell sideways in a crumpled heap.

"Mulder!" shouted Scully, heart pounding. Without thinking, she let go of Mr. Beatty and raced over to her unconscious partner. He stirred a bit as she put her hand on his head, checking for injuries. To her relief, he wasn't bleeding at all.

From behind Scully, Jonas's hollow, ghostly voice said, "I'm sorry."

Scully turned to see that he had come closer to her. She could see pain written all over his face; old scars that had never really gone away as time passed. Despite the circumstances, Scully couldn't help but feel bad for him. He was, after all, a victim of abuse.

"I know," she replied.

Just then, she heard the sound of a door slamming shut. She glanced over to see that Mr. Beatty was gone. A few moments later, she heard a car engine starting up, and wheels screeching against the driveway in their hurry to get away.

The noise made Mulder stir again. Scully put a protective hand on his chest and, after taking a deep breath to compose herself, looked directly up at Jonas. He was watching the driveway through the window.

"I know you blame him," Scully began. "For what happened to you, and for what happened to your mother. I know you're in pain. But… the only way to truly heal is to let go."

To Scully's surprise, Jonas wrapped his arms around himself. "I don't know how," he said in a small, defeated voice.

At first, Scully didn't know what to say. But then a little voice inside her head whispered, _Just talk to him. Forget that he's a ghost; he's still human_. "Recognize what happened to you," she told him. "But killing your father won't bring her back. It won't bring _you_ back, either."

Jonas didn't say anything. Scully went on, "You were close with your mother, weren't you, Jonas? I'm sure if she were here right now… she'd want you to be happy. To let go of all this pain."

The ghost remained silent. However, despite his translucency, Scully thought she could see his breathing slow down, almost peacefully.

"Thank you," he said finally. And with that, he flickered out of existence. Immediately, the room became warm again. Scully shivered at the sudden change. She watched the spot where Jonas had been standing for a few seconds longer before turning to Mulder. He had regained consciousness, and was looking at where Jonas had been as well.

"He's gone, Mulder," Scully whispered. "It's over."

She stood up and outstretched a hand down to her partner. He took it and pulled himself to his feet. "You okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he responded. "Scully, you did it."

"I know."

Mulder reached into his pocket and took something out. "For you," he said, holding it out to her. It was a maple candy. Scully laughed, all of the tension inside of her unwinding slowly. She accepted the candy from him, unwrapping it and popping it into her mouth.

"Thank you," she murmured. "Now, what do you say we get out of here? If we leave soon, we may be able to catch up to Robert Beatty and get him to testify to the police. After all, he saw Jonas too. That's why he ran."

Mulder nodded. "All right. Let's go; we have a girl to prove innocent."

* * *

"Are you writing it in your report, Scully? Are you writing that we saw a ghost?"

Scully rolled her eyes. "Stop pestering me, Mulder," she grumbled.

"Well, are you?" he asked, undaunted.

She sighed. "Yes," she admitted. "I've been trying to find a logical explanation for what I saw, but I can't. So this time, you win. It was an X-File."

Mulder grinned. "I've been waiting for this day for so long," he said.

"You don't need to tell me twice," muttered Scully, reaching over and picking up her laptop. "All right, Mulder. Feel like helping me write my report?"

Her partner nodded. "Sure, Scully. Well…" He sat back, crossing his arms. "Judging by how Jonas Beatty was able to toss me across the room like a ragdoll at his father's house, he used those psychokinetic powers to kill Dr. Penner. No weapons were recovered from the scene of the crime because Jonas didn't _need_ any."

Scully opened her laptop, tapping absentmindedly on it while waiting for it to start up. "Jonas Beatty thought that Dr. Penner had a magical cure for his mental illnesses, for his violent urges," she said. "So, after what he did to his mother, he believed that Penner failed him. He blamed him, and that's why he killed him."

"And it's obvious why Jonas wanted to kill his father," responded Mulder. "He was physically and emotionally abused for many years, even leading into his adult life. Like Eleanor said, their father made Jonas's condition worse. But Jonas loved his mother. If it weren't for his father, Jonas never would have killed her. It's only natural that he would hold a grudge against him, even a year later."

Scully nodded, beginning to type as they brainstormed. "That's right. And although I don't think Chief Harley really believes that the ghost of Jonas Beatty came back, he dropped all charges on Zoe after Robert Beatty's testimony. Zoe is currently searching for a new therapist." She glanced over at the wall behind Mulder, where they had pinned the card that Zoe had sent them. It was a short yet heartfelt thank you from her and her mother. Just then, Scully remembered something. "Oh, Mulder, I almost forgot. You went to talk to the Bureau's resident psychiatrist, didn't you? How did it go?"

"Well, Scully, it turns out I should look into detective work," Mulder replied. "The psychiatrist still wants to do some more tests, but she said that my hunch was pretty good. I'm going back again in a couple of weeks."

Setting down her laptop, Scully reached out and drew a thumb across the top of her partner's hand. "You okay?" she asked.

Mulder nodded. "I'm fine," he told her. "It's a relief, actually, to finally talk about it with someone."

A smile spread across Scully's face. "Mulder, that's great," she said. "I'm glad you can finally get this off your chest. And I know I'm not a psychologist in any way… but I'm here if you ever wanted to talk. As your partner, and as your friend."

"I know you are, Scully. Thank you," Mulder responded, taking her fingers in his and giving them a quick squeeze.

His touch sent shivers up Scully's spine. She retracted her hand. "I think it's good that you'll be talking to someone," she told him. And, with a wry grin, she added, "I just hope your therapist doesn't get murdered by the ghost of their ex-patient."

Mulder laughed. "Very funny, Scully. Very funny."

end


End file.
